


how did it get late so soon (it's night before it's afternoon)

by kayteedancer



Series: November Challenge [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy can't help but put her foot in her mouth, Darcy is way too tired for this shit, F/M, First Meetings, Jane Foster Loves Science, Meet-Cute, Science Bender, and Steve is pretty into it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-02-01 17:37:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12709707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayteedancer/pseuds/kayteedancer
Summary: When Jane finally got a breakthrough and went on a crazy science bender, that meant that everyone else did too.  Even Darcy, the not-science contingent of Jane’s support crew.Darcy had been up for 35… no,36hours straight collating data, transcribing notes, and making an enormous amount of coffee to fuel the astrophysicist, the Science Minions, and Darcy herself so they would be able to chase this breakthrough of Jane’s all the way to the finish line.





	how did it get late so soon (it's night before it's afternoon)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there everyone! Here's my addition for Day 12. I did fluff again, peeps; I'm so excited! Today's prompt was: _"Don't talk to me. It's 6:00AM and I haven't had coffee yet, so anything I do or say cannot be held against me."_ I saw this prompt and saw Darcy all over it! No spoilers in this one; just a meet-cute with the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan. ;)
> 
> Thank you so, so much to everyone who has read and commented and left kudos, especially those of you have done so on more than one installment. It seriously makes my day to see comments and kudos. It's absolutely amazing; thank you again <3
> 
> If you want to come talk to me about any of my installments in this challenge, any of the fandoms I write and/or talk about, or even just say hi, I would love to talk to you all over on my tumblr (sleepeatdancedream) too!
> 
> Without further ado, I hope you enjoy my Day 12 offering!
> 
> Title is a quote by the incomparable Dr. Seuss.

Jane had a breakthrough.  _Finally_ , after so many false starts and godly Norse (distractions) visitors and moving labs, Jane had cracked another piece of the Rainbow Bridge code.

Darcy was so excited for her.  Ecstatic, even.  They were in Stark Tower now with shiny toys, a holographic display that would render (in **3D** ) any night sky Jane’s heart desired, the most amazing Science Minions that could actually speak Jane’s science language, and more money than Jane could shake a stick at.

Jane could even afford to pay her now, which was amazing because if she had to work at another Starbucks Darcy would probably be arrested for murdering some _asshat_ patron who talked to her breasts and didn’t look at her eyes once during his order.

Suffice to say that the only good things about her time as a Starbucks barista was that she could make _mean_ coffee, knew all the recipes so she could remake any of them on demand, and gained a truly outstanding caffeine addiction.

The last part probably wasn’t the best thing to ever happen to her, but whatever.  Darcy was back working on crazed tiny astrophysicist hours and she _needed_ it, damn it.

So when Jane finally got a breakthrough and went on a crazy science bender, that meant that everyone else did too.  Even Darcy, the not-science contingent of Jane’s support crew.

Darcy had been up for 35… no, _36_ hours straight collating data, transcribing notes, and making an _enormous_ amount of coffee to fuel the astrophysicist, the Science Minions, and Darcy herself so they would be able to chase this breakthrough of Jane’s all the way to the finish line.

By the time she had convinced Jane to go to her room and get some sleep, the Science Minions had curled up on every available surface in the lab’s break room, socked out in sleep and using their lab coats as blankets.  Darcy rubbed her eyes tiredly, turning the lights off and looking at the glass walls of their lab.

“JARVIS,” she rasped, her voice rough with disuse and tiredness.

“Yes, Miss Lewis?” JARVIS replied quietly, unwilling to wake up the Minions.

“Could you black out the windows for the Minions please?” she murmured.  “The sun will be coming up soon and I want them to sleep at least 5 hours before going home.”

“Certainly, Miss Lewis,” JARVIS agreed, the windows darkening immediately.  “I have also taken the liberty of setting an alarm so you will not have to worry about waking them up.”

A tired smile spread over her lips as she tipped her face up toward the ceiling.  “You’re the best, J.”

“Thank you, Miss Lewis.  Please do get some rest yourself.”

Darcy moved toward the doors finally, flapping a hand at the empty room.  “Can’t yet, J.  I have to finish getting all these notes transcribed before I finally zonk out.”

Darcy entered the elevator, hitting the button for the communal kitchen but she didn’t move.  JARVIS remained silent and Darcy could feel his disapproval heavy in the air. “I just need one more cup of coffee so I can power through these notes and then I’ll go to bed and sleep as long as I need to.  I won’t even set an alarm, I promise, JARVIS,” Darcy swore.

Finally, the elevator began moving and Darcy let out a sigh of relief.  As the doors slid open, Darcy bee lined for the coffeemaker and set about making the strongest cup of coffee she could that wouldn’t give her caffeine tremors.

Once the coffee was percolating, Darcy leaned back on the island behind her.  As she waited for her caffeine savior, Darcy slowly became aware of another presence in the room.  Her head snapped to the right and Darcy came face to chest with the most beautiful blonde giant that she had ever seen.

“Hot _damn_ ,” she whistled lowly.  “Hey there, gorgeous.”

Darcy watched the man’s cheeks suffuse with a dark blush, and she shut her eyes in embarrassment.

“I said that out loud, didn’t I?” she groaned, dropping her head in her hands.  “God, I’m such a spaz.  I’m _so_ sorry.”

The blonde god made flesh turned toward her and Darcy felt her mouth go dry.  _Holy crap, his eyes._   “Just, don’t even talk to me.  It’s, like, not even 6:00AM and I’ve been up for 36 hours straight and I’m not even done yet.  I _need_ coffee like I need oxygen right now, so anything I do or say should not be held against me, you know?” she rambled.

“You’ve been up for 36 hours?” the godly man asked and Darcy felt her knees go a little weak.  Grabbing the counter behind her, she only kept herself off the floor through sheer force of will.

“Wow, okay, a voice like that should be a weapon,” she blurted and internally berated herself as she saw the man flush and shift uncomfortably.

“ _Ugh_ , I’m awful.  I’m so sorry –,” she began to apologize again, but was saved from sticking her foot even further in her mouth by the shrill tone of the coffeemaker. 

Shooting toward the machine, Darcy jammed buttons excitedly until she ended up with a gorgeous dark roast with 2 espresso shots.  Inhaling briefly, Darcy lifted the cup to her lips and took a gulp, not even worried about burning her tongue.

She whirled back toward the man, cradling her coffee mug in her hands like it contained liquid gold.  The man watched her steadily, a small smile on his face.  “I’m so sorry about my mouth running away from me.  I totally owe you a baked good, or a coffee, or something,” she said sheepishly, looking up at him from beneath her eyelashes.

The man’s smile widened and Darcy felt her own grow to answer him.  “Anyway, my name’s Darcy Lewis, if you want to take me up on my apology,” she continued.  “I work for Dr. Foster in the Star Lab, so if you’re looking for me there’s an 85% chance I’ll be there.”

The man chuckled and nodded, his ( _amazing, so blue, wow)_ eyes brightening with mirth.  “And I’m Steve Rogers, Miss Lewis,” the man replied.  “I’ll definitely take you up on that apology coffee.  How about tomorrow, 7:00PM?”

Darcy’s mouth dropped open as she stared blankly at the man.  “Uh, sure!  Yeah, 7:00 works for me.  Totally!” she tripped over her words, rushing to get them out before he changed his mind.

“Great!” Steve grinned, making himself a quick cup of coffee before turning to leave the kitchen.  “I’ll see you then.”

“I can’t wait!” she exclaimed and the man threw another smile her way before moving down the hallway toward the elevator.  Darcy stared after him blankly long after he had left the floor before shaking her head sharply and taking a sip of her now (perfect temperature) coffee.

“Miss Lewis, if I may?” JARVIS inquired and Darcy nodded, lifting her eyes to the ceiling.  “I have taken the liberty of adding your coffee date with Captain Rogers to your calendar for tomorrow.  Would you like me to remind you tomorrow as well?”

“No, J,” Darcy replied, “I’m sure I’ll remember.”

“Very well, Miss Lewis,” JARVIS agreed before venturing, “Maybe you would like to get started transcribing the rest of Dr. Foster’s notes?  It is now 6:32AM.”

“Crap!” Darcy jumped, downing the rest of her coffee as she started back to the elevator.  “Thanks, J!” she called up to him as the doors slid open back at the Star Lab.

“You’re welcome, Miss Lewis,” JARVIS replied before falling silent again.  Darcy pulled Jane’s notes toward her and began typing them up before a thought struck her. 

Stopping abruptly, Darcy looked up at the ceiling.  “JARVIS, earlier did you say _Captain_ Rogers?  As in, I have a date with _Captain America_ Steve Rogers?”

“Yes, Miss Lewis,” JARVIS stated.  “Though he prefers Steve.”

Darcy’s mouth tried to fall open again, but she snapped it shut with a click.  “Oh.  Cool.  That’s… cool.”  Internally, Darcy was screaming.  She had not only managed to score a date with _the_ most beautiful specimen of manhood she’d seen since Thor (and Thor was an _actual god)_ , but he was Truth, Justice, and the American Way, the Man with a Plan himself.

“If you wouldn’t mind, please do remind me about my date tomorrow, J,” Darcy asked finally.  “Could you remind me about 2 hours before?”

“Of course, Miss Lewis,” JARVIS replied, and Darcy swore his tone was smug.  Shrugging it off, Darcy started typing again, a huge smile on her face.

She couldn’t _wait_ for tomorrow.


End file.
